WASHINGTON — “Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., urged regulators on Wednesday to tighten restrictions on banks involved in physical commodities markets.”

“The lawmakers, who have been vocal on the issue for months, submitted comments to the Federal Reserve Board, which has been accepting responses to a January notice that the agency is considering extending limits on the types of physical commodities activities that financial holding companies can be involved in. Wednesday was the deadline for the comment period on the advance notice of proposed rulemaking.”

“The lawmakers laid out a number of concerns and suggestions for regulators, urging them to ban banks from directly holding physical assets.”

“As a general matter, [financial holding companies] should be prohibited from owning physical assets like warehouses, pipelines, and tankers,” the senators wrote. “These activities pose significant safety and soundness, legal, and reputational risks to institutions.”

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